Luke Garrard’s side will be aiming to remain at the summit of the Enterprise National League table with a trip to Eastleigh.
It was a disappointing season for the Spitfires as they flirted with the prospect of relegation having remained an ever-present in the division since their historic promotion in 2015. The Spitfires finished the season second bottom in League Two, registering just 39 points in 46 games and ultimately facing the drop.
A shining light in a below-par season last term, Aaron Blair’s ruthlessness in front of goal was a driving factor behind Eastleigh retaining their National League status with 17 league strikes.
Beginning his career within the academy ranks at Dagenham & Redbridge, the striker enjoyed fruitful loan spells at Brightlingsea Regent and Braintree Town during the 2022/23 campaign before making a permanent switch to the Iron the following season.
He flourished at Cressing Road with 31 goals across two seasons, helping them clinch promotion to the National League via the play-offs in 2024 to end their five-year exile from non-league’s top tier.
Blair subsequently signed for National League South promotion hopefuls Maidstone United two seasons ago where he netted eight league goals before arriving at The Silverlake Stadium last summer.
A man with a promotion from this division on his CV, Matt Gray will be hoping to emulate the success he had at Sutton United in Hampshire.
After moving into management following his playing career with assistant manager posts at Eastleigh, Aldershot Town and Crawley Town, Gray was thrown into the hot seat at Sutton in 2019 following the departure of long-term boss Paul Doswell.
He guided them to the Football League for the first time in their history as champions in his second season at the helm, before missing out on the Sky Bet League Two play-offs by just one point in their maiden campaign at the level.
A memorable 2021/22 campaign could have been etched further into the club’s history when they lost to Rotherham United in the EFL Trophy final at Wembley Stadium. That proved to be the peak of Gray’s time at Gander Green Lane, as he was sacked at the end of 2023 with Sutton six points from safety.
Gray returned to management with Eastbourne Borough ahead of last season but failed to build on their surprise play-off finish as the 44-year-old failed to win any of his first ten games in charge before his dismissal.
A full-circle moment arrived in the summer as Gray took the reins at Eastleigh, returning to the club which gave him his first experience in management 15 years ago.
The Spitfires made the trip to Meadow Park in October and second-half strikes from Abdul Abdulmalik and Lewis Richardson ensured the three points remained in Hertfordshire.
The reverse meeting was an eventful one as the spoils were shared in a tightly fought 2-2 draw. Blair broke the deadlock inside ten minutes before two goals in the space of five minutes from Zak Brunt and Richardson put the Wood ahead at the break. However, Jake Tabor had the final say thanks to his strike 11 minutes into the second period.
The game kicks off at 15:00 and is segregated.
Prices
All tickets are available to purchase via the Eastleigh FC online ticketing system at the following prices:
Adults (21-64) – Advance: £20.50
Concessions (65+) – Advance: £16.50
Students (17-20) – Advance: £12.50
Junior (7-16) – Advance: £7.50
Child (Under 7) – Advance: £5.50
How to Buy
To buy tickets for this fixture, please click here.
Follow all of the action from the Silverlake Stadium on the club’s official social media channels, with live updates on both X and Instagram, available at @boreham_woodfc. Don’t forget to turn your notifications on!
Written by Jack Patmore.
